T. Z. Lavine (1915–2011)

This work is an overview of Western philosophy and its development through analyses of six major figures: Plato, Descartes, Hume, Hegel, Marx, and Sartre, while using other well known philosophers as links between each. For example, the contributions of Nietzsche and Kierkegard to existentialist thought are explored in brief before turning to Sartre. Considering that this work covers the overarching current of its subject, which has developed over a period of twenty five hundred years, this work is pretty straight forward and easy to digest. Most anybody with an interest and a critical eye can move through this book with pleasure. In reading Lavine's survey, one will gain a comprehensive understanding of philosophy, its key figures, its concepts, and a proficient knowledge of its development from the Greeks all the way to the modern conflict between phenomenology and linguistic philosophy. For those who ponder where to start in reading philosophy, this is as fine an introduction as one could ever hope to get. A text that is thorough, objective, and accessible.… (mer)